How will Alaska weather this storm? (Anchorage: how much, purchasing, tornadoes)

[BudinAk]

Originally Posted by susitna-flower

But can ANY ONE tell me why we no longer get a discount for home heating fuel? Remember it isn't used on the highways....are the sulfer emmissions also to be blamed for the higher cost here?

One point is that you can get a bulk rate discount still when having it delivered....Just got 607 gallons today at $4.57 and felt less like I was being stuck.......Of course that is to generate electricity that would cost even the highest home user $300 for if they were hooked up to electric lines....so I guess that is MY choise in living out in the wilderness, and still wanting my freezer plugged in!

I don't know about where you are at, but in Seward there is still a discount. My folks just filled their 300-gal tank at $4.55/gal, but diesel at the pumps is around $5.25-something...sky high.

607 gals @ $4.57 .....Yowsers! Not too worried about it now that summer is here, but this coming winter will be scary....

Bud

[Barkingowl]

Originally Posted by BudinAk

Not too worried about it now that summer is here, but this coming winter will be scary....

Bud

I think a lot of people in the lower 48 are feeling the same way.

[SuValley]

It isn't so much a discount, as not having Alaska road tax applied. Our road taxes are very low compared to a great many other states, btw, some of whom have taxes in the 30 to 40 cent range-even some counties can levy fuel taxes.

I have always paid less than pump price, even out here in the Valley. Not that I haven't choked on it too....and you get a break on gallonage at 200, 400, and 600 I believe. Its only a couple of cents, but it's something. I have heard that it is much cheaper at the bulk plant in Anchorage tho-the Valley gets ten or 12 cents added for the trucking alone.

$4.57. Enough to scare me.

[arctichomesteader]

Well I still intend to move up, the storm isn't going to stop me if I can help it (but good God, I'm going to need to budget at least twice as much as I thought I would just for gas to get there, and that's assuming we don't have $10 gas next year!). I think those who are able to be relatively self-sufficient will fare well, everyone else will be in a lot of trouble though, especially in winter. It's one thing when you have acres and acres of woods around you for heat, entirely another when you're in a city or town and rely on oil or gas for heat, or you're simply unable to use wood.

A lot of people in VT that I know have always joked about moving to the South when the winters get bad here. These days, a lot of them aren't joking at all, and I suspect the same will be true in AK, many will flee the state for warmer places...I know several people in VT who are moving South this year, they know they won't make it financially through another winter, oil was much lower this past winter (high but not as bad as now) and it destroyed many budgets. Obviously with such high prices now many won't make it.And it's not just the price of heating fuel, it's everything, from rent to food to clothing, and the economy is terrible here in terms of jobs so obviously it's a recipe for disaster. The government will be overun with people looking for government assistance this winter here, and things could get ugly.

I'm sure some people will be moving to Anchorage and nearby from more remote areas, but that won't be a good situation in the long run. They may save on fuel and transportation for supplies, but they'll be virtually entirely dependent on purchased items with no real backup like one can have in the bush, so as things get worse and worse...

[Barkingowl]

A food shortage will have the city folks storming the countryside like locusts. It'll be bad up there, it'll be worse down here because there will be more of them.

[Alaskapat528]

Originally Posted by Barkingowl

A food shortage will have the city folks storming the countryside like locusts. It'll be bad up there, it'll be worse down here because there will be more of them.

Yes it will be bad down there; worries me sick about family I have in the lower 48. I know one thing, I pray it doesn't come to that, but everyone knows to have plenty of guns, ammo, food, water, medicines, etc. welllll stocked. For those anti-gun nut States, don't know what those folks will do to protect themselves.

[Barkingowl]

Originally Posted by Alaskapat528

For those anti-gun nut States, don't know what those folks will do to protect themselves.

They'll probably scream for non-existent government intervention. Then they'll try to survive any way they can. Most of them will probably be dead after the first winter. I've had a friend down here tell me about land for sale in the mountains with a group of like minded individuals. I should talk with him at greater length about the opportunity.

[elgusano]

Think cities: Think NYC with no running water and no electricity.

At least here in Alaska we're not so densely populated that we would decimate wildlife in order to eat, much less turn to eating each other.

Also in the cities, if you have some intelligent people who decide to grow food, how long do you think it would survive theft or vandalism? (Think South Africa with the blacks killing the white farmers, then destroying the crops.)

[LoneStarJerry]

Way to much doom & gloom thinking here. Nothing wrong with being prepared for things but some people go way to overboard. Thinking the worst and worrying doesn't help matters any.

It reminds me of the whole Y2K situation and how so many people thought the worst and worried themselves sick over nothing.

As Bob Marley sang "Say you just can't live that negative way, make way for the positive day".

[Marty Van Diest]

Originally Posted by elgusano

At least here in Alaska we're not so densely populated that we would decimate wildlife in order to eat, much less turn to eating each other.

Actually, if it came down to people shooting moose for food, we would very quickly decimate the population of moose near any inhabited area.

It isn't a bad idea to be somewhat prepared. A little bit of dry food on hand and maybe some extra wood for the wood stove is a good idea.

Most of survival is in your head. What do you really need. You need warmth...in Alaska and food. that's about it.